All thinkers

Kenneth C. Catania: 2 ideas worth knowing

2 ideas from Kenneth C. Catania, each explained in a minute and credited to the original work. Free on Savvy.

• Electric eels can leap out of the water to shock a threat directly

  Electric eels don't just shock underwater — when a predator or a person approaches, an eel can rise up and press its chin against the threat, delivering a more concentrated jolt ou…

  — Kenneth Catania, Electric Eels Concentrate Their Electric Field to Enhance the Effectiveness of Shocking Behavior

• This mole's nose can identify and eat prey in a fifth of a second

  A star-nosed mole's nose bears 22 fleshy tentacles packed with over 25,000 touch receptors, more sensory input than a human hand. It can touch, identify, and swallow a single prey …

  — Kenneth C. Catania, Fiona E. Remple, Asymptotic prey profitability drives star-nosed moles to the smallest prey in the world

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